Electrocaloric devices using cantilever structures

Abstract

Electrocaloric cooling technology is one of the most promising alternative cooling technologies, with high energy efficiency, easy device integration, and zero-global-warming potential. For more than a decade, the focus of the research was on the search for new electrocaloric materials with a higher electrocaloric temperature change. As a result of the materials research, the first prototypes and demonstrators of electrocaloric cooling devices emerged. One of the interesting engineering ideas is an electrocaloric device based on a cantilever structure. The cantilever-based electrocaloric device has two advantages: (i) no cooling medium with a pumping system is needed

(ii) synergetic use of elastocaloric and electrocaloric effects can be exploited. However, drawbacks of a cantilever structure are a small contact area of the heat transfer and its high thermal resistance. These factors govern the operational frequency and, consequently, the efficiency of a cantilever-based cooling device. The following chapter describes the advantages and disadvantages of cantilever-based electrocaloric devices. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.